Food help needed please!

[firsttimelondonmummy]

Googling what I can and can’t eat is actually now causing me to suffer with quite severe anxiety and depression.
Should I only be listening to the NHS website?
When googling I’m seeing I can’t have crisps, coriander, Indian and that I have to be careful if every getting milk out. I’m a villain for not washing my veggies before cooking them. I can’t have sweeties or takeaway. The list goes on and on… I’m such a foodie and just feeling so down about the whole thing and rotating the same handful of dishes.
My partner works opposite shifts for me and I’m really struggling with energy and cooking too.
Anyone got any advice?

You're over thinking. Listen to nhs guidelines. Why can't you have sweets or take away? You'll have a miserable 9 months for no reason doing this.

It sounds like you’re overthinking it. There’s really very little you can’t eat. Yes the NHS list is only one you need to worry about.

Don’t have meat pate, charcuterie meat or very rare meat/liver/kidneys.

Avoid soft cheese with a white rind and blue cheese unless it’s cooked, and unpasteurised milk (which you’d have to actively go looking for so not likely to come up by accident) but the listeria risk is actually so tiny.

Avoid any eggs that aren’t lion stamped - basically any you buy in a shop in the U.K. will be fine.

Be careful with uncooked smoked fish, avoid swordfish, marlin, shark and raw shellfish (also not part of most peoples day to day diets)

Thats about it. You can pretty much just keep eating what you’d usually eat.

Thank you both @BuffaloCauliflower am I ok with Chorizo if I’m frying it off to pop in pasta?

I do think I have been overthinking it.
Google is an awful thing sometimes 😭

Stop googling.

@firsttimelondonmummy I have Chorizo on pizza at least once a week. Cooking it off kills any germs x

Why do you need to avoid crisps?
What websites are you reading?
Go with the nhs as there is very little you need to avoid. A lot of foods on the list can be made safer by cooking them too e.g. blue/unpasteurised cheeses and cured meats are safe if cooked

Yes just cook it. Annoyingly my craving this time has been bloody deli meats. Going to eat a whole packet of prosciutto when this baby comes 😂

And Indian food is fine as are takeaways
Chorizo is fine if cooked

You're worrying far too much. In many non-western countries they don't have these "do and don't eat" lists and their babies come out just fine. When I was pregnant in Japan I ate a lot of sushi and enjoyed the onsen (hot tubs) in moderation as these are not contra-indicated there. Both my children are fine.

As for not having Indian... what do you think people in India eat when pregnant?

Thanks so much all! I feel so so so much better.
Going to treat myself to an Indian this evening 🙏🏻

I had a miscarriage in April and I’m almost 13 weeks pregnant again. I can honestly say that Google is your worst enemy and you could search drinking water in pregnancy and there will posts about people complaining if you drink too much. Of course you can have crisps, takeaways, sweeties in moderation. I do ensure I wash my fruits and veggies now and I avoid everything on NHS guidelines but other than that you’ll be fine. I think Googling is going to make you end up avoiding so many foods and make you go crazy

I meant to say that after my miscarriage with this pregnancy I got very anxious so kept googling but it was making me paranoid so I no longer Google*

Only listen to NHS! There's loads of complete nonsense online. Guidance varies by country for good reasons (eg food safety fluctuations and how things are prepared). If you are in UK, NHS guidelines are plenty to keep safe x

Have a look at Emily Oster's 'Expecting better' book. It's v reassuring about the evidence for a lot of this stuff and helps you work out what is right for you.

@RidingMyBike I bought that and it gave me worse anxiety than anything else.
I had a couple of big drinking sessions before I found out I was pregnant at 3 weeks 5 days.
Her book made me feel so guilty about it and the cigarettes I smoked not knowing I was pregnant.
I had to put it down.
Felt awfully shamed.

The point is that you stopped once you knew though? Loads of people do things like that if they're unexpectedly pregnant, then stop once they find out. The point is minimising risks. Most of the risks are very tiny to start with and stopping then makes it even smaller.

Have you had your booking appointment yet? It would be worth talking to your midwife about anxiety - I had anxiety both antenatally and postnatally and there are things they can offer to support you.

@RidingMyBike my booking appointment isn’t until the 17th (9 weeks 1 day) 😭
I’ll definitely mention this though, thank you!
It’s been getting worse and worse as the days go on.

Ok, so yes, talk to your midwife about it. In the meantime, I'd just stick to the NHS website for advice as it's evidence-based and is what applies in this country.

Just follow the NHS, if you take all countries advice into consideration then you’ll end up eating nothing. General rules are that all meat and fish must be fully cooked and no unpasteurised dairy. There are a few around how much fish you can eat so if you eat a lot then check that out. Crisps and Indian are absolutely fine!

I wasn’t worried about not hearing the heartbeat abdominally at 6+2 because the sonographer acted like it was so normal and now I’m freaking out after hearing everyone else hearing them much earlier 😭

@firsttimelondonmummy do you have a difficult history with fertility or pregnancy loss? It feels like you are really struggling with anxiety. Abdominal scans shouldn't be used until 8/9 weeks as you cant see enough earlier on. I would recommend you talk to your GP about your level of anxiety x

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl I haven’t it’s my first pregnancy (that I’m aware of).
I’ve always suffered on and off with health hypochondria but never suffered anxiety like this before.
I think the fact I was on meds and drinking before we found out has significantly contributed to the anxiety levels and inner guilt.
That and the fact everyone and google gives such contradicting information.

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl I also don’t have many people to talk to about it so feeling a bit isolated and lost on what we should and shouldn’t be doing and should and shouldn’t be experiencing.
The few people I have told said not to tell anyone else as there’s still a high chance we won’t hold and all gave their own miscarriage stories which also hasn’t helped.

@firsttimelondonmummy it's not a "high chance" - whilst early miscarriage is common, still 75% of positive tests succeed in a pregnancy - it's more likely to work out than not work out! And I say that as someone who has experienced loss myself.

Lots of people drink and smoke prior to finding out and will have completely healthy babies. You did not know.

I suspect this is health anxiety rearing it's ugly head again for you. Early pregnancy is a really hard time as it doesn't feel real yet and people tend not to talk about it so you feel alone.

Do you have a partner you can talk to? I would tell a few close trusted people. Id also recommend booking a scan at more like the 8-9week time and make sure the place you go uses qualified sonographers, ideally who also work for the NHS.